Unitary plastic bed frame

ABSTRACT

A plastic end member for beds having the appearance of being wooden, and molded as an integral frame with the outer surface having a wood-grain finish. In an alternate embodiment, the rear surface of the frame is formed in one of two prescribed configurations in order to attach either a solid panel or a series of splats across the width thereof. The invention further includes a unique type of mold for the alternative embodiments in which a single face die is used with either of two rear dies to form the prescribed rear configuration of the frame.

UIlitQd States Patent 1 Thomas 1 51 Feb. 27, 1973 UNITARY PLASTIC BED FRAME [7 61 Inventor: Charles H. Thomas, 310 Woodsway Lane, Lenoir, N.C. 28645 [22] Filed: Aug. 20, 1970 [21] App]. No.: 65,730

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 872,105, Oct. 29,

1969, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. ..5/280 [51] Int. Cl ..A47c 19/00 [58] Field of Search ..5/280, 53 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,508,506 5/1950 Fridolph ..5/280 X 2,687,537 8/1954 Wallace et al ..5/280 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell AttorneyHunt, Heard & Rhodes [57] ABSTRACT A plastic end member for beds having the appearance of being wooden, and molded as: an integral frame with the outer surface having a wood-grain finish. In an alternate embodiment, the rear surface of the frame is formed in one of two prescribed configurations in order to attach either a solid panel or a series of splats across the width thereof. The invention further includes a unique type of mold for the alternative embodiments in which a single face die is used with either of two rear dies to form the prescribed rear configuration of the frame.

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CHARLES H THOMAS BYMV M M PATENTEDFEBZYIW 3,717, 887

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UNITARY PLASTIC BED FRAME REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation-in-part of applicants co-pending application Ser. No. 872,105, filed Oct. 29, 1969, and now abandoned, entitled UNITA- RY PLASTIC HEADBOARD FRAME.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the manufacture of wooden furniture, headboards and footboards, hereinafter called end members, have traditionally been formed by assembling a frame formed of several individually shaped wooden lengths, mitered and pieced together at the corners. The desired type of end member is then attached to the frame subassembly by conventional methods such as glueing, nailing, or the like. The assembly of such a frame, however, is both costly and time consuming, requiring a highly skilled workmanship to piece together the wooden lengths so that the joints are substantially invisible, it being impossible to form a frame of a unitary piece of wood.

The recent developments in the plastics industry has enabled furniture manufacturers to replace some of the highly tooled wooden components with molded plastic components having the appearance of wood, however, utilizing the economies of plastic manufacture. For example, such components as chair legs, arms, and woven rattan backs have successfully been replaced by molded plastic parts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention then, in order to overcome the aforesaid difficulties, relates to a frame for end members which is preferably molded in one-piece from some type of suitable plastic material and the surface of the frame is so treated in the mold as to have a grainy or wooden-like appearance. By forming the frame unitarily, the difficult operations of mitering and piecing together at the corners is eliminated.

The entire headboard including frame and decorative panel or splats may be molded in one operation, or alternatively the frame may be molded in one operation while the panel or splats are separately formed and attached thereto in a separate operation. In the latter case, the front face of all frames of a particular pattern are identical, however, the rear surface of the frames may be one of two configurations, that is, they may be formed to receive a solid panel of wood or plastic material spanning the entire width of the end member, or they may be formed to receive a series of horizontally spaced, vertical splats.

The mold for the alternative embodiment comprises a single face die which may be selectively used with either of two different rear dies to form aframe having the desired rear configuration. A frame of the type which receives a solid panel is formed in a mold wherein a face die is used with one of the two rear dies to form a shell-like frame, and nailing strips or pads are secured to the rear surface thereof at spaced positions for receiving the panel. On the other hand, a frame of the type which receives a plurality of splats is formed in a mold using the same face die with the other of the two rear dies forming a heavier frame having spaced recesses in the lower edge of the rear surface for receiving splats. In either case, the front surface is identical.

It is therefore a primary object of the invention to provide a plastic, integrally formed frame structure for bed end members having a simulated wooden surface, yet eliminating the expenses involved in piecing together a frame formed of wooden components.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of manufacturing frames for bed end members, whereby a unitary plastic frame may be molded having a wooden appearance.

Itis another object of the invention to provide unitary, one-piece, molded, plastic frames for bed end members having identical facial configurations and one of a plurality of prescribed rear configurations, whereupon frames having the same facial configuration may be used with either solid panel end members or those comprising a series of splats.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a method of forming end members of the type described wherein the frames are formed with an identical facial configuration in all cases, and the rear surface of the frames are selectively formed to receive either a solid panel or a series of splats.

Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a mold for forming frames of the type described wherein one of a pair of rear dies is selected for use with a single face die to form a frame having a desired rear configuration.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent after reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial front elevational view of a headboard according to the present invention which is so formed to receive a solid panel;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along lines 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial front elevational view similar to FIG. 1, except showing a headboard frame which is formed to receive a series of horizontally spaced splats;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along lines 4-4 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating a transverse section of a mold designed and constructed to form a frame such as that shown in FIG. 1.",

FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating a transverse section of a mold designed and constructed to form a frame such as that shown in FIG. 3, the section being taken through the frame between the splats;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 6, except taken through the frame at the point where a splat is to be attached; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are sectional views similar to FIGS. 57 except showing another embodiment of the mold therein illustrated.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated one: embodiment of the present invention showing one end of a headboard 12, comprising a unitary frame 14 including a side piece 13 and a bridging member 15. A second side piece (not shown) is connected to the other end of bridging member 15, so that frame 14 extends about three sides of and receives a solid panel 16. Nailing pads 18 are secured in any suitable manner as by bonding or the like at spaced positions about the rear periphery of frame 14 and provide a means for attaching panel 16 to frame 14. It is to be recognized that although the drawings illustrate a headboard in which frame 14 and panel 16 are formed separately, it is within the scope of the present invention to form the frame and panel in a single molding operation. Moreover, bridging member 15 is shown joining the upper ends of side members 13, however, intermediate points on the side members might additionally or alternatively be joined by such bridging members.

The frame 14 may be formed of any suitable material, however, is preferably formed of a polystyrene plastic which is injection molded to form a monolithic frame. Further, the exposed surfaces of the plastic frame are provided with a wood-grain effect. Panel 16 may either be solid wood or a synthetic plastic material similar to the material used in frame 14.

FIG. 2 illustrates the cross-sectional configuration of frame 14 which is essentially a shell having a fanciful front face simulating wood grain, and an outer wall 22 extending rearwardly from the outer edge of front face 20 terminating at a rear edge 24. Nailing pads 18 are secured to the rear surface of front face 20 at spaced positions (FIG. 1) and are of such a depth as to provide a space between the rear surface of nailing pads 18 and the rear edge 24 of outer wall 22 for receiving panel 16, the edge 24 and the rear surface of panel 16 being coextensive. The panel l6 is then merely tacked, nailed, screwed or otherwise attached to nailing pads 18 to form the completed headboard l2.

Headboard frame 14 may be made to any desired size by merely extending the length of bridging member 15. The headboard frame may be molded to accommodate a twin bed, a single bed, a double bed, or even queen-size and king-size beds in which event the frame is molded with bridging member 15 having various lengths from 3-7 feet.

Turning now to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown headboard 32 comprising frame 34 including side pieces 33 and a bridging member 35 receiving a series of horizontally spaced vertical splats 36. Headboard 34 comprises a front face 38 identical to the frontal configuration of frame 14 with an outer wall 39 and a rear edge 41, however, as shown in FIG. 4, frame 34, rather than being formed as a shell similar to frame 14, has a solid crosssectional body 40. A plurality of recesses 42 are formed at spaced positions across the top of frame 34 to receive and properly position the upper ends or rabbets 43 of splats 36 in a suitable manner such as by bonding or the like.

Frame 34 is also preferably formed of a polystyrene plastic like material, which is injection molded into a monolithic structure having the appearance of wood, and the splats 36, as in the case of the solid panel 16, may be formed of wood or a suitable synthetic plastic material.

It is to be realized that although the specification and drawings relate to headboards and frames therefor, the invention is equally adapted to footboards.

Turning now to FIGS. 5-7 for a description of the mold structure, a front die 50 and rear die 52 are assembled to form the mold 48 for forming shell-like frame 14 between the concave surface 54 of die 50 and the convex, parallel surface 56 of die 52. Screws 58 and 60 are turned into threaded bores 59 and 61 in front die 50 to retain the die members in assembled relation.

The mold 62 illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7 for forming the splat headboard frame utilizes the same front die 50 with an altogether different rear die 64 which are assembled together for molding frame 34. Rear die 64 includes passageways 66 and 68 so formed as to assemble the rear die to the front die 50 using the same fastening screws 58 and 60 in the same bores 59 and 61. A shoulder 70 protrudes into the die cavity at the proper positions throughout its length to form recesses 42 in the frame which receive rabbets 43.

Another mold embodiment 72 may be substituted for that shown in FIGS. 5-7, and as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, comprises the same front die 50. The difference lies in the construction of the rear die which in this embodiment comprises a common back-plate 74 which is used in forming either frame 14 or frame 34 and a removable core 76 held in place by screws 78 and 80. When frame 34 is to be molded, core 76 is removed and replaced by side member 82, and a plug 84 is inserted in the opening previously occupied by screw 80. At least a portion 80 of core 76 mates with a portion of back plate 74 so that when the core is removed, the back plate 74, the front portion 50 and the side member 72 form the mold cavity for frame 34.

It is to be recognized that various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from its scope and intent and the foregoing description should be construed as illustrative only.

What is claimed is:

1. In an end member for a bed, a molded, unitary, one-piece frame comprising two upstanding supports located at opposite sides of the bed and a bridging member extending therebetween, said supports and bridging member being formed integrally of a plastic material, and the exposed surfaces of said frame including a wood grain finish, thereby simulating a wooden frame.

2. The end member according to claim 1 and further including a decorative panel structure attached to said frame.

3. The end member according to claim 2 wherein said decorative inner panel is molded integrally with said frame member.

4. The end member according to claim 1 wherein said frame comprises a front and rear surface, said rear surface including a series of nailing pads secured thereto, and a decorative inner panel attached to said nailing pads.

5. The end member according to claim 1 wherein a series of horizontally spaced recesses are molded in the inner edge of said bridging member, and further including a plurality of vertical splats, each splat having a rabbet on the upper end thereof, said rabbets being received by said recesses for attaching said splats to the frame forming an end member comprising an outer frame with a series of horizontally spaced, vertical splats therein.

6. In a bed headboard including an outer frame surrounding and receiving an inner decorative panel structure, the improvement wherein said outer frame comprises a molded, monolithic member formed from a plastic material and including side pieces and a bridging member integrally connected therebetween, the cross-section of said member including a front face and a side wall terminating in a rear edge, said member further comprising a first means for attaching said inner panel thereto, a second means on each side piece for attaching said frame to a bed frame, said outer frame characterized by the absence of joints along the length thereof.

7. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said first means includes a plurality of nailing pads secured to the rear surface of said front face, whereby said inner panel may be attached to said nailing pads.

8. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said first means comprises a plurality of horizontally spaced recesses, molded integrally into the inner edge 

1. In an end member for a bed, a molded, unitary, one-piece frame comprising two upstanding supports located at opposite sides of the bed and a bridging member extending therebetween, said supports and bridging member being formed integrally of a plastic material, and the exposed surfaces of said frame including a wood grain finish, thereby simulating a wooden frame.
 2. The end member according to claim 1 and further including a decorative panel structure attached to said frame.
 3. The end member according to claim 2 wherein said decorative inner panel is molded integrally with said frame member.
 4. The end member according to claim 1 wherein said frame comprises a front and rear surface, said rear surface including a series of nailing pads secured thereto, and a decorative inner panel attached to said nailing pads.
 5. The end member according to claim 1 wherein a series of horizontally spaced recesses are molded in the inner edge of said bridging member, and further including a plurality of vertical splats, each splat having a rabbet on the upper end thereof, said rabbets being received by said recesses for attaching said splats to the frame forming an end member comprising an outer frame with a series of horizontally spaced, vertical splats therein.
 6. In a bed headboard including an outer frame surrounding and receiving an inner decorative panel structure, the improvement wherein said outer frame comprises a molded, monolithic member formed from a plastic material and including side pieces and a bridging member integrally connected therebetween, the cross-section of said member including a front face and a side wall terminating in a rear edge, said member further comprising a first means for attaching said inner panel thereto, a second means on each side piece for attaching said frame to a bed frame, said outer frame characterized by the absence of joints along the length thereof.
 7. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said first means includes a plurality of nailing pads secured to the rear surface of said front face, whereby said inner panel may be attached to said nailing pads.
 8. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein said first means comprises a plurality of horizontally spaced recesses, molded integrally into the inner edge of said outer frame and extending inwardly into the body of the frame, said recesses being adapted to receive the upper end of a plurality of vertical splats, each having a rabbet on the upper end thereof in horizontally spaced, vertical arrangement.
 9. The improvement according to claim 6 wherein the inner configuration of said frame member conforms to the adjoining edge of said decorative panel, whereby said decorative panel serves to support said outer frame. 